


Open Mouth, Insert Foot

by DarkJediQueen



Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [28]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: All Human AU, M/M, One-Shot, Soulmates, Sterek Bingo 2020, fashion - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:08:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24420319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkJediQueen/pseuds/DarkJediQueen
Summary: Stiles always knew that his soulmate was an asshole of some kind. So he became one himself.
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Series: Sterek Bingo 2020 [28]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1726042
Comments: 20
Kudos: 293





	Open Mouth, Insert Foot

**Author's Note:**

> **Year** : Future  
>  **Spoilers** : Everything  
>  **Notes** : This is a completed One-shot. There will be no more written in the universe.  
>  **Beta** : Grammarly

Stiles looked around the area where his part of the show was going to be happening and smiled. It was a good space. He was content with it. All of the Hale models were being divvied up, and it was going to be the luck of the draw who got who. Stiles wasn't going to be drawing, he was getting the last as the newest designer. He didn't care. He was here. He had his small business had been picked up by Hale Designs a year before because the guy who ran it loved the stuff that he did to draw in the younger crowd. No one else liked him, though. They hated his designs, but Stiles could live with that. He wasn't in this to make friends. He wanted his clothes to be out there.

There was nothing to freak out about. Stiles had this. He might not have gone to college for this, but he had found a hell of a lot of fun in it. His business degree helped him when he had been starting out, and minoring in accounting hadn't been hurtful either. He had been successful in his shop in Beacon Hills after graduation.

Stiles reached up and rubbed his soulmate mark on his shoulder. The words branded on his skin from when he had turned five. Stiles had gone out of his way to succeeding at everything he had done in life instead of feeling like someone who wasn't worth anything. He had graduated in front of Lydia Martin, who had been the Queen of the School. Stiles had felt good knocking her ass down. He had his pick of schools in his degree, and then after getting said degrees, he had found another calling. He had found it before then, but he had kept it to the side, making his own clothes from when he was ten and up. It was something he had learned while in therapy after his mother's death. He had been than happy in Beacon Hills, making enough money in his shop to keep himself in the building that had an apartment above it.

That store was still there, one of his friends working it. Outside of all of the Hale stores across the country, it was the only place to find Stiles' clothes. He had never been happy with selling his stuff in stores where he could never watch what was happening with it.

"Hey!" a woman yelled out.

Stiles ignored her and kept on visualizing what outfit he wanted to go first. He was more than happy to allow his stuff to go in any way that looked good. He didn't have a stunner piece like some did. His stuff kind of play off of each other. There were several ways to do it. He looked down at his paper that had the design names he had for each piece. It was something that only he knew. Each item had an actual name that was more profitable than Skank Girl and Hobo Prince. That had been the one thing that Peter had been pretty set on, no one ever finding out what Stiles called his stuff. He was more than happy with is names, but Peter hated them.

"I'm talking to you."

Stiles only knew that she was talking to him when someone grabbed him and spun him around.

"You need to get the hell out of here before I call the cops."

"What?" Stiles asked. He looked at the woman who looked like she was pissed off. He reached up and touched the badge that said he was allowed to be in there.

"Who did you steal this off of?" She ripped the badge off of his collar and slipped it into her purse.

"Look, I don't know who you are but just give a call to Peter. He'll tell you."

"Oh fuck me, you are one of his sex groupies." The woman turned around and looked at someone else. "Derek, it's one of Peter's sex groupies!"

Then a man walked over toward Stiles. He was dressed in a leather jacket and a white muscle shirt underneath. He looked like sex defined, but the look on his face was something else at the moment. He looked pissed as hell. He grabbed Stiles by his shirt, twisting it in a way that didn't allow Stiles to slip out of his flannel shirt like he had been trained by his father to do to get away from someone who grabbed him like that.

"I'll take this piece of shit wanna be out like the rest of the trash."

Stiles froze as he heard the words that were written across his collar bone. He had always wondered exactly how those words would ever be the first thing that was said to him by the man he was supposed to love more than anyone else in the world. Stiles wanted to laugh at it, but the man was moving him, and then he was thrown out into the back lot of the building. The woman followed behind Derek and took a picture of him.

"You won't be getting back in."

The door shut, and Stiles groaned. He texted Peter that some vapid as hell woman and a man Derek had just thrown him out and took his badge. He was glad he had his keys. He walked to where his Jeep was and got into the front seat. He laid his notepad down and wrote down the order of the items with his names and then used his phone to look up the table where he had linked the two. He wrote down the real names beside the first ones and then texted that to his partner. Stiles was the brains behind it all, and Lydia was the one who had come on with him after Peter had hired him to make sure that he wasn't being taken in. Lydia had been happy to leave behind her job at the think tank, where they treated her like shit, even if the money was good. She still played with math in her spare time, and Stiles was pretty sure that she was still gonna win a Field's Medal, just from the fashion world.

Stiles dialed her number and waited for it to connect.

"Stiles, you should be in bed."

"Yup, and I just got the final order down for what I want. Only while I was taking in the space, some vapid wanna-be took my badge and had some hulk named Derek throw me out. I texted Peter, but I have no clue if he's going to see it. You know how he gets annoyed at the sounds his phone makes."

"I'll see what I can do. You go home and get sleep. You look like shit when you don't get any sleep."

"I will do it." Stiles wasn't worried. It wasn't like they would actually keep one of their own designers out of there, would they? Stiles could deal with his soulmate. If it wasn't for the fact that Stiles knew those were said at him, he would have thought over the years that it was being said to someone else, and it was the first words out of his mouth.

Stiles had spent nights when he was a teenager trying to figure out what the hell kind of situation would call for that. He had never thought it would be this. He'd made a choice though that he was going to make his soulmate work to make shit up to him. And this was probably one of the worst things in the world. His soulmate was going grovel. Derek wasn't going to be getting back on his good side for a very long time.

* * *

Stiles knew that he probably wasn't reacting like he should be. He was sitting at the cafe outside of the building where the fashion show was going on. It was fifteen minutes until he was supposed to take the stage. He had tried to get in, but he had been barred, and security had threatened to call the cops on him. Stiles had told Lydia to go out and do what she did best, woo people. He would be sitting and waiting for when it all came down on its ears. Peter wasn't going to be pissed at him.

Whoever had thrown him out would be the ones who were at the end of his shit list. He sipped at his latte and waited. He queued up the feed for the live telecasting of the stage show that was happening on the Hale website. He looked at Lydia, who was wearing one newest version of the casual date shirt and skirt combos that were selling nearly faster than they could be made. It was the highlight of his spring collection, and he was looking forward to seeing the new colors and the way the skirt flared. Lydia stepped up and gave a short speech about how Stiles had been detained in an unavoidable circumstance but that she was more than willing to step up.

Lydia wooed the crowd, and Stiles just waited for it to all be over and for Peter to finally figure out what the hell was going on. Stiles watched as the finale was nearly done, and he watched as the biggest risk in his collection went up on the body of his soulmate. He looked fucking good in it, and Stiles thought that it was made for his type of body. So whoever Derek was, he was one of the models for Hale Designs. Stiles looked down and laughed as he saw the name that flashed over the ticker before his phone showed that he was getting a call.

"Where exactly are you?" Peter asked. He sounded pissed, but the tone was not that he was pissed at Stiles.

"I'm at the cafe out front. By the way, the man who threw me out? Yeah, he just walked out with my clothing on his body. I guess he's your nephew Derek Hale."

"Boyd is on his way out to get you. I would send Isaac, but that would just you both thrown out again. Isaac's going fucking crazy on Laura right now. Boyd is going to escort you up to my office. I'll bring Laura and Derek up with me."

"Don't let him change."

"I won't, dear boy."

Stiles stood up, shutting down the feed that his phone went back to. He had seen what he needed. He was sure that something was going to be circling about how Stiles had missed the first runway show for his own line. He would make sure that Lydia got out his stance on it once he talked to Peter. He didn't want to make any more work for the PR people at Hale Designs. Stiles tossed his coffee cup away after making sure that nothing was left. He saw Boyd heading toward him and moved to meet him. Boyd had his own small line for big and tall men within Hale Designs. Stiles loved the way that Boyd tailored clothing. It was pricey, but the people who used it most were those in sports and had more than enough money to spend.

"Boss is fucking pissed but not at you."

"No, I know that. I texted him last night, but you know how he gets. Lydia could still get in."

"Laura was yelling at him that one of his cock obsessed bimbos tried to get into the show, saying that he probably thought that he would get fucked on the runway when it was over or before. I have no clue, but Peter looked so shocked. Then he found your message and realized that Laura thought that you were that person. Peter went to a dressing room to talk to you. Laura and Derek don't know who you are." Boyd glared at the security man who had stopped Stiles earlier. Stiles just grinned and waved at him as they passed by.

"I find it funny that Derek ended up having to model my clothes."

"What were you wearing last night?"

"This," Stiles said as he waved at his clothes.

"You look hot in that."

"Thank you. I know that I do. I got hit on four times the last time I went out in this. I think he was upset that I was hotter than him in his biker clothes." Stiles saw that Boyd was taking him around the edges of the areas where models were getting ready and up into the office area of the building.

Stiles heard Laura and Peter yelling at each other even before he got onto the same floor as Peter's office.

"Oh my fucking god, we don't need to see your current fuck, Peter!" Laura yelled when Stiles entered the room with Boyd behind him. "Boyd, why are you letting him get away with this?" Laura demanded.

"Well, for one, I'm not letting him get away with anything. And two, I don't make snap decisions about people based on what they look like."

Laura looked him up and down and then looked at Peter.

"It's up to you what punishment you think fits," Peter said to Stiles.

"I don't really care. You decide. You know them better than I do."

"Fine. Laura, you are going to head the New York office."

"But Damien just started his job here!" Laura demanded.

"Maybe that will teach you. Derek, you are going to be working strictly with Red Riding Hood designs, and I have Stiles booked for back to back shows across the country for the next three months. You are going to be kind, or you are both fired."

"All because we insulted your current fuck?" Derek asked.

"Actually, no. My current fuck, as you call her, is working her job at the moment. She's lovely, and I think I might actually keep her. I've kept her for four months so far."

"Then, who is this?" Derek asked as he pointed at Stiles.

"He is Stiles Stilinski of Red Riding Hood designs. You know the man who designed the clothes you are currently wearing."

The look of shock on Derek's face was well worth it. Laura looked even worse. Stiles could understand why. She was currently wearing one of his more business casual pieces.

"Stiles, I would like to introduce my niece and nephew fresh from New York, Derek and Laura Hale." Peter had a wicked look on his face as he said it.

Stiles looked at them both before he looked back at Peter.

"So you are sticking him with me."

"Yes. Actually, the whole crew that he works with. Everyone who did the clothes today. I know this was your big pieces, but you'll have to finish the rest of the spring line for your clothes before the show in three days."

"Oh, I have. I got a lot of work done last night. Anger and spite can do a lot for the muse it seems."

"Good. Good. Now how about we go and meet with the press, and you can discuss your clothes. I'm sure that they will be happy to know how the hell you missed your own runway show."

"And what exactly is my answer to that?" Stiles asked.

"Oh, I have no care what you say. The press is used to me telling the truth. I'm sure that it will draw attention to you if Derek is seen in each of your shows after this."

Stiles laughed.

Six Months Later

Derek slipped into Stiles' office, and Stiles looked up at him. He had his large sketch pad open in front of him. Derek looked a little unsure about something. He wondered if this was going to be asking out attempt number five. The first had come just a month into their tour of smaller fashion outlets for Hale Designs and giving shows that were for charity.

"Stiles," Derek said.

Stiles looked at him, pushing his pen into his mouth and chewing on the cap. Derek lost all ability to form words as he always did when Stiles and his oral fixation won. It was a game that Stiles loved playing with him. It was quite a bit of fun for him. He had reduced Derek into walking into a wall seven times so far. He was petty, and he knew it. He just needed to make sure that Derek fully understood that before he finally gave in and said a single word to him.

"I'm going to a benefit party for my Uncle back in our hometown, and he wanted me to ask you if you would like to go. He's not the only reason I am asking. I want you to go with me, but he said that you might like it. I don't know quite why you would want to go to a charity to benefit a new children's wing in a hospital in Beacon Hills."

Stiles just kept looking at him, waiting for the moment when Derek started to fidget. When he wasn't around his sister, he was a hell of a lot of a better person. Stiles hadn't actually got mad at him for one single thing. Derek had even come up to him and apologized for what he had done, making Stiles miss his first runway show. Stiles had just stared at him for several minutes until he had left.

Pressing the button that would connect him to Lydia, Stiles waited for her to open the door.

"Yes, Stiles?" Lydia asked.

"Is the outfit for the benefit done for Derek and me?" Stiles asked.

"Oh, yes. He had his final fitting earlier today, and yours will be ready for the final tomorrow. Then, the car is set to take you to the airport for the flight down to Beacon Hills tomorrow night. You'll get there just in time to drop him off at the hotel and then get a very late dinner with Allison and me."

"Good. Good. When are you and Allison going?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Lydia." Stiles turned his face toward Derek and smiled before waving him out of the room.

Stiles figured if Derek kept up his good behavior, he would talk to him tomorrow after they landed in Beacon Hills.

The day passed quickly, and then the next and Stiles was left to get onto a small plane with Derek to head to the charity event.

"This is a nice hospital," Derek said as he looked around at the ER entrance where Stiles was going in. Lydia and Allison were already at the venue, but Stiles wanted to see Melissa. He and Scott might not be the best of friends anymore, but Stiles had a lot of affection for Melissa.

"Stiles!" Melissa cried out. She rushed over and hugged him. "You are handsome. And who is this?"

"Melissa this is Derek Hale, he's here with me from Hale Designs to help bolster this event."

Stiles saw the look on confusion as Stiles didn't introduce him to her.

"Mister Hale, it's wonderful to meet you. I'm happy you are coming around to help us get the funding needed for a new wing." Melissa held out her hand, but then the doors fro the ambulance entrance opened, and she turned to head to the disaster.

"How do you know her?" Derek asked.

Stiles acted like he hadn't heard him at all and set to leave with what looked like a trauma coming in. Stiles didn't need to see that blood. The car was still waiting where Stiles had asked them to wait, and then they were off. The hall where the charity event was being held was the best in Beacon Hills, it was where most wedding usually took place unless they were outside ones. The Sheriff's department was doing extra security for the event beyond a few rent-a-cops, and Stiles saw his father standing at the doors, looking around. He was dressed in a sharp suit that made him look fancy as hell. He looked like he would rather be in anything else. Stiles got out of the car first and ran to hug his father. He turned to introduce his father to Derek when he heard Derek behind him. Sheriff of Beacon County, this is Derek Hale. He's one of the models for the company. I don't think that he was told that he was being auctioned off."

"What?" Derek asked.

"Son, you do know that part of the charity event is being auctioned off for a date with someone here tight?" Noah asked with a curl of a smile to his lips.

"No." Derek looked at Stiles pissed, but Stiles just shrugged his shoulders.

Stiles wasn't being auctioned off. He was just there to make his hometown happy.

"The shops doing well. Still, more stock goes out than can be kept on the shelves, but Lydia makes sure that it stays stocked."

"Store?" Derek asked.

"Ah, you probably don't know. Then Stiles didn't give a full introduction. Noah Stilinski, Mister Hale. This is Stiles's hometown."

"I see." Derek looked at Stiles, but Stiles just grinned at him.

"The auction is about to start, so Derek if you'll come with me. I'll get you to the lovely lady who is running the event. Most everyone is locals. Many are my deputies, so you'll be bid by a bunch of wolves as it were."

Stiles watched as his father escorted Derek away from him. Derek was looking at him like he was figuring something out, and Stiles just waved like an asshole at him. Derek's eyes narrowed.

The table where Derek and Stiles were supposed to sit was near the front, which was good and afforded him a good sight of the stage where Derek was going to be auctioned off. He had a check with his money for the event. He just wasn't sure who he wanted to bid on. Derek was the most interesting choice, but that would reveal his game.

"And for the last of our bachelors who are just looking forward to taking you on a date, we have Derek Hale," Lydia said with a grin on her face.

Derek came out, and he looked like he was pissed off. Stiles wondered if Derek hadn't been told by Peter about what this was as another little bit of fun after how Derek had nearly screwed up the show six months before.

The ladies and a few of the men in the room started to bid on him. It was well known that Derek was bisexual, he hooked up with models of both genders. There was the rumor that he didn't have a soulmate mark, which wasn't all that rare and unless there was someone else out who would say the words. Stiles just figured that Derek kept them hidden. There were ways to touch them out of pictures and to hide them during shows, even if that bit of skin would be visible. Stiles really didn't care. He listened as the money started to climb, and Derek's eyes grew wider and wider at the two who were upping the price by staggering amounts. It was nowhere near how much Stiles had brought with him.

Lydia looked at Stiles and cocked an eyebrow.

"Four thousand," Stiles said. He was going to donate the whole check no matter how much he actually bid on Derek.

"Five," one of the two said. The other had dropped out by the way that she was pouting. The man who had placed the competing bid looked like he was one step away from wanting to take Derek to his cabin in the woods for the body to be found later.

"Six," Stiles said like he didn't care at all.

"Seven."

Stiles looked at the man to see that he was sweating. They were hitting the limit that he had.

"Eight thousand," the man said.

Stiles grinned at the man and then turned to look at Lydia. "Fifteen thousand."

The man sat down, and Lydia nodded her head. Derek looked like he was confused as hell, but then he had no idea why Stiles would drop that kind of money. It was a hell of a lot of fun, though. The dinner portion was easier with the dates sitting with the people who had got them for the night. That was part of Stiles' stipulation for the auction like that. There were no dates outside of this place.

Derek came around, sat down in his chair, grabbed Stiles' glass with scotch in it, and downed it.

"You don't like being bought for fifteen thousand dollars, Derek?" Stiles asked.

It wasn't until Derek's mouth dropped open, and Stiles remembered that he hadn't said a single word to him before that. Wow, they both had shitty as fuck words on their skin.

"You."

"Me. Before you even say a fucking thing, Derek Hale, think about the first words that you said to me."

Derek looked confused. So Stiles opened up his dress shirt and showed him. Derek flushed and looked away.

"Don't say you are sorry. You've said it time and again. I've gotten to know the person behind these words, and while I have forgiven you for them, there is no way that we are ever going to forget them." Stiles had tried once to get them tattooed over, but the ink had just faded. The soul marks were impossible to get rid of. There were those who had tried worse methods. One man had cut off his own arm only for the mark to come back on his chest. It was horrible but nothing worse than other issues.

"Who knows?"

"No one. I keep my mark covered, and I don't do relationships, ever. I hook up with people, but clothes stay on at least shirts. There is a reason that I usually layer up. No one but my father has seen the words on me. Well, that and my doctor, but they are bound by so many fucking laws that even if he uttered a single word of it, he would be sued to the ends of the earth."

"Uncle Peter knows about my mark. I've been able to keep it from Laura and Cora. This is the first time that he's successfully got me to take part in one of these things. He's an asshole and has tried for years."

"Let me see?" Stiles asked.

Derek undid his cuff link and rolled up his suit jacket sleeve, and this his shirt sleeve. There etched across his skin in Stiles' cramped writing was the words he had said. He rubbed his thumb over them and waved for Derek to cover up again as Lydia and Allison headed toward their table. Most of the tables were enough for two, but Stiles had made sure that he would have room for Lydia an Allison at the table.

"There is a man over there who is glaring at us," Derek said.

"That would be Scott McCall, one of my ex-boyfriends and Stiles' ex-best friend," Allison said.

"What happened there?"

"He chose me over Stiles," Allison said.

"And then my boyfriend, his best friend, and I chose him as a friend, and we started to sit together. Scott started to not sit with us as Allison always sat with me. It got really weird, and then things got even worse when Scott demanded that Allison sit with him or break up." Lydia turned and glared at Scott, making him cringe and look away. "She broke up with him. Later on, my boyfriend decided that he was fully gay and not just bisexual. I kind of figured that out, but I didn't want to hurt him. I care for him still."

"Jackson and Danny are having the time of their life, and we three stuck together. These two started to date during the last part of high school, and it all just kind of fell into place. They both liked the clothes that I made, so they ended up buying them from me, and it helped support me through college before I just said fuck it to my degrees and went with what I wanted. I found that I liked designing and making clothing. Now I do less of the making, but I still make most of my own."

"I see." Derek looked down at the plate of food that was settled in front of him. It was all food Stiles had seen him eat before. "I didn't give them my meal."

"No, I did," Stiles said.

Derek nodded his head.

"I feel like we have stepped into a room where one of you found out the other was cheating."

"Ah, Lydia, your tact is awesome, though I really don't have any. Lydia, I would like you to meet my soulmate."

"You've talked to him before..." Allison trailed off.

"Dear me, what exactly did you say to him that night that you and Laura kicked him out?" Lydia asked.

"Ah!" Stiles waved his hand and shook his head. "Nope. Nope."

"That was you?" Allison asked.

"Look that night was horrible, and everything is better now. Cards on the table, everything is better. Let the past stay in the past." Stiles glared at Lydia, but she nodded her head. He looked at Allison next, and she nodded her head as well. "Good. My father is on his way over here with his food. Make room because I would assume that the mayor has pissed him off again. No one breathes a word of this to him."

"Of course," Allison and Lydia said.

"Please, save me," Noah said as he settled his plate down in the gap between Lydia and Stiles. He had a glass of wine in one hand. Stiles took that from him and handed him his newest glass of scotch. "You are my favorite son."

"I'm your only son," Stiles pointed out.

"Okay, you are my favorite child."

"I am your only child."

Noah looked at Allison and Lydia. Stiles laughed and shook his father by his shoulder.

"Okay, I guess you have adopted two kids kind of, but hey, at some point down the road, you'll have a second son!"

"Stiles, we've discussed this before, and you don't know that your soulmate is going to be male. You are bisexual."

"Dad, meet my soulmate." Stiles pointed at Derek.

Derek looked green around the gills, and both Allison and Lydia were picking up on that.

"I see, and exactly how horrible were your words on his skin?"

"I mean...it all depends. I think that my words are worse, but he might think that his words are. So it's all kind of even?"

"And you don't hate him?"

"After that first night, he's been nothing but a doll to me. Even when I've been an asshole."

"Uncle Peter adores you. If I didn't want to be shuffled back to the underwear division of modeling for the company, I needed to make sure to stay on his good side. You might not have been the nicest to me, but you were not a horrible person, even after Laura and I were horrible to you. You stay so focused on your drawing that sometimes I don't think you noticed me staring at you for hours on the jets."

"Once he's lost in his own world, the house could come down around, and he would never know."

"Dad!" Stiles reached out to cover his father's mouth, but Noah evaded the hand, and he laughed.

"When Stiles was fifteen, he was working on what he wanted for his outfit to wear for the first day of school. I was in the kitchen, and a massive tree limb from the neighbor's yard fell on the house. It took out a window and part of the corner of the living room. he had the TV and didn't notice the house shaking."

"I had just accidentally taken a double dose of Adderall for my ADHD. I thought that it was just me that was shaking. Dad comes running into the room, and he's screaming. I tell him to shut up. He grabs my head and tips up my face to where I can now see outside the house to the whole front yard. I freaked the hell out with that."

"One month into the tour that Peter stuck me on with him, he was sitting outside of a coffee shop, and a high-speed chase happened near us. Everyone else rushed out of the way, and he was so lost in what he was doing that he didn't even look up."

"Singular focus, it's rare that he doesn't get into one when he's working."

"I had to pull him away, and he just scrambled back to grab the sketchpad he was working in. There ended up being a shoot out, and he just watched it all, not freaked out. I know you are a cop, so I can see why he wasn't all that freaked out."

"Yeah, if that had been here, I would have freaked the hell out."

"Let's eat while the food is still warm," Allison said.

The conversation flowed as they all ate, but none of it was too heavy. Stiles kept looking at Derek when he felt the man's eyes on him. The attraction to Derek was there as it had been after listening to Derek talk to people and tell stories about growing up. It wasn't hard to see why the man was his soulmate, but Derek hadn't had that chance to get that side of him. Stiles reached over and laid his hand over Derek's on the table after he had finished his food. Derek looked at him and smiled.

The music changed from simple versions of songs to give background noise into something louder and fancier.

"Ah, the dancing portion of the date," Lydia said.

Derek stood up and held out his. Stiles blushed a little and allowed Derek to pull him up. Stiles followed him over to the dance floor. Derek tugged him closer when Stiles tried to keep the distance between them, but Derek didn't want it.

"Just as much as you have watched me, Stiles, I've watched you. I've seen how you are with Lydia and other people around you. You cherish those who are yours. I know that my first impression wasn't the best, and I've tried to show you that I am not really that person. When I'm around Laura, I sometimes turn into a facsimile of myself, and I forget that I don't have to do what she said, like when we were growing up. She always freaks out around people she thinks are trying to use my Uncle. He's had more than one model use sex to get him to give them things that they don't deserve."

"You do realize that most of the people you think your uncle sleeps with doesn't right?"

"What?" Derek asked.

"Most of them are young people like myself that he helps get settled into a job that they want. Models who need a little push to feel good about wanting it. Designers, even a few others in different jobs who just need a confidence push. Also, he's was shitting you about the young woman he was talking about. He's been in a very steady relationship with the same man for a decade."

Derek actually stopped moving them around the dance floor and just looked at Stiles. Stiles tugged them over to the side where if they didn't move a lot, no one would bump into them and get pissed off.

"My uncle has not."

"Yeah, he has. I met him a week after working for your Uncle. I was invited to dinner at his house."

Derek looked a little sick. Stiles looked around for the exits and found one. He tugged Derek after him, and they found a table to sit at outside.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Stiles asked.

"He's been inviting us to dinner at his house for a long time. Yeah, the decade is about that time. We never...Cora is the only one that goes. He went a little wild for a short period of time, and Laura walked in on him having sex in the foyer with a guy. After that, we've never gone to his house. I wonder if that was him? She wasn't supposed to be there, and she let herself in, and I told her that it was her own fault for not knocking. Fuck." Derek dropped his head down into his hands.

Stiles had a feeling that things were very different for the Hale family than they were for the Stilinski. He knew that the death of a few of the family members in a house fire in the middle of the night had changed them, but he hadn't realized that it had drawn lines.

"Laura and I were always close, but then so were Peter and I. After the fire, I was underage, and Peter was older, so he was awarded custody of Cora, Spencer, and I. I think that Laura resents him for that. She wanted us to all live together while she was in college in New York. The insurance money more than paid for all of the schooling that we all needed and a place to live. Peter split it all up between us with a little more for us three underage, given that we needed new clothes and everything. Laura had moved all of her stuff to the condo she was renting in New York while at college. I never thought about it. I mean, it was only like four thousand more for us to replace clothing, books, and everything. Peter paid for the therapy we got from his own money from the company. He inherited it as he was the next in line for it. Laura had never wanted it until our parents died, and I think that it was more that she didn't want Peter to get it."

"Hey, look. You seem a little shell shocked. Why don't we skip out? Lydia has the check with the money that I bid. We can head out and get something better to eat, and maybe you can call Peter?" Stiles wasn't sure what exactly Derek needed, but being here in public wasn't it.

Derek nodded his head, and Stiles was glad of that. He looked around for the car that they had arrived in. It wasn't in sight. Stiles walked over to his father's SUV and saw that he had left the keys in the ignition. He tended to do that when he knew that he might get called to work, and he was somewhere safe. Stiles texted him and said he was borrowing the SUV as he and Derek had some talking to do. The valet who had parked them all saw Stiles, waved at the SUV, and the valet nodded his head. Stiles remembered him from a few years above him at school.

Stiles drove them out to a place where he knew they could talk without anyone bothering them, especially since they were in the Sheriff's personal SUV.

"I need to call Peter." Derek held out his phone and brought up the app that Stiles knew most of the company used for meetings when they needed to see each other face to face.

Peter's face popped up, and it looked like he was at home in his office. Stiles knew the painting.

"I found my soulmate," Derek said.

"Good. I finally got you to one of those that you couldn't back out of."

There was a chuckle from somewhere in the room, and Peter looked away from the screen to the person. Stiles knew Chris' laughter well by now.

"Where exactly are you?" Peter asked when he looked back at Derek.

"Sheriff Stilinski's SUV."

"Oh dear, it's not him, is it?"

"No." Derek looked at Stiles.

"My mom died. She was his soulmate."

"Wait, Stiles is your soulmate?" Peter asked.

"Yeah."

The laughter sounded again, but this time it was closer. The screen showing Peter turned a little, and Chris' face was there.

"Stiles, you have gone six months without saying a word to him?" Chris asked.

"Yes," Stiles said.

Peter started to laugh, and he nearly fell out of his chair.

"Derek, I'd like you to meet your Uncle's soulmate, Chris Argent. Chris, Derek."

"It's nice to meet you finally, Derek," Chris said. His eyes were dancing with happiness, though.

"How about Derek and I come over for dinner when we get back tomorrow?" Stiles asked.

"Tomorrow? I thought you were flying back tonight after it was over?" Peter asked, finally getting a hold of himself.

"Well, I thought that I might like to actually take Derek out on a date here in Beacon Hills. Show him around my shop here. Show him the house I grew up in. Spend a little time just the two of us before the rest of the family descends on us. I doubt that Cora and Spencer will stay away for long, and when they go, Laura is sure to follow."

"Peter, I'm sorry," Derek said.

"There is nothing to forgive, Derek. We are family and family sticks together, even through rough patches. Your room is still here in the house. It might need a little airing out, but you and Stiles can stay the night. He's got his own room in case you don't wanna share. There is enough between the two of you...Stiles, what exactly are the words on your skin?"

"That's nothing that you need to know." Stiles glared at him, and Peter raised his hands.

"What's wrong with the words from Derek on his skin?" Chris asked.

"Chris, they met the night that Laura had Derek thrown him out of the hall where the show was happening. I can only guess at what my nephew said to him. I'm glad that they are getting through things just fine, but it's a little worrisome knowing what Derek's words are. I'm trying to gauge if the other words are worse or better?"

"Eh, about the same, really. I mean, we were both probably a little too fucked up by the words. We will work through it. I mean, the universe threw us together for a reason."

"I'll let you go. I'll get the meal planned out to make sure that I can get everything I need for it. Derek, I expect you early to help with dinner like we used to do."

"Of course. I don't know what Stiles will do during that time, though."

"Stiles and I will talk books like we always do while Peter is cooking. It's got us into some lively debates. Peter loves to listen. It'll be good to have you around, Derek. I look forward to our meal tomorrow."

"Of course," Derek said.

They said their goodbyes, and then it was just Derek and Stiles again.

"He's...different."

"Who your Uncle? I'm sure that meeting Chris did change him. They love each other passionately. They are good from what I have seen. They are happy, and that's really all that I think soulmates are, best friends who never leave you. I thought for a long time after seeing my words, and then mom died, that I never wanted to meet my soulmate. I'm glad that I have though. We might not have the best foundation, but I think that both of us can be huge assholes. It's not like we both haven't been ones to other people. We just gotta work on not being assholes to each other. We can do that, right?"

"Yeah, I think that we can for now though I want it to just be Peter and us. I don't want to invite Laura in until we are more settled together. The day that she invades, she's going to have issues. She doesn't have a soul mark, and I think that is why she never wanted to believe that Peter could settle down with someone even though we both know he has a mark. She was the only one born in the family without it. Though she's one of four so, it stands to reason that someone would be born without one. She never seemed like she resented it. Her husband doesn't have one either. They are happy even if Peter's punishment of her didn't end until recently, and she was allowed to come back here."

"Hey, we can do this. I promise. We can easily do it all. We just gotta stop being assholes to each other, and yes, I know that I've been an asshole longer. I'm a spiteful creature by heart. My father said that if I ever had a superpower, that would be it. So clean slate?" Stiles held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Stiles Stilinski. It's wonderful to meet you."

"Derek Hale, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well." Derek smiled, and Stiles felt his heart skip a beat. He smiled back, and Derek's smile just got even brighter. Yeah, Stiles was pretty sure that they were both making the right decision with this. They could do this, with a little work and less anger.

# The End

**Author's Note:**

> I write fanfiction for fun. It's a hobby and a stress relief. I refuse to stress over my writing. What you see is what you get. Errors, plot holes, and all. Thank you for reading my story!
> 
> I can be found on MeWe [here](https://mewe.com/i/beccaqueen1), join me there and we can discuss my fics and whatnot.


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